Shenanigans
Harrow drags Backfire in by one of his helm vents, having given him no explanation. He didn't need one! Her optics are wide, and they dart to look for the slightest disturbance in vision around her, waiting for Boomslang to pop up out of nowhere and possibly stab her. Boomslang is in the arena already when Harrow arrives with whomever she decided to collect along the way. He's tacked up a row of posters, what look like expanded blueprints and body plans, against the wall of the holochamber, and is squinting at them and trying to make something out of what they say in his mind... engineering is not his forte. Blueshift is also in the training room, throwing his ample weight about like a fat spaceship BUT HE ISNT FAT. "Boomslang you FOOL!" he utters, pointing at the blueprints. "Real people are not transparent, those are USELESS!" Ask for two Seekers, get a third for free! Limited time offer! Well more like Polarity just happened to catch sight of the femme-seeker dragging Backfire around, and in his usual mischevious curiousity followed along to see what comes of it. Thus he trails along the other two, drifting slightly above the floor thanks to his magnetic lift instead of actually walking. "Hey, what's the big idea? I was just about to uncover another hidden mystery from that human history box!" Backfire whines, being dragged along by the Dominatrix. Harrow arches an optic ridge. "Studying anatomy, are we, sir?" And goddammit Blueshift arrives. She releases Backfire and stares at him. "For the last time, that's not a /history/ box!" "Oh," says Boomslang, looking around at the sound of the door opening. "That was fast. You're always squared away, aren't you." This observation is an approximation of a grateful compliment, from Boomslang. And also a comparison against certain other folks who are most definitely NOT squared-away, like Blueshift. Positively adrift, Boomslang would say. "That's the whole PROBLEM," he replies to Blueshift, frowning. "This would be a lot easier if I had x-ray vision. Maybe I should ask Scrapper for x-ray vision. Roger, Harrow. Here's the problem: I've got a relatively small knife." He ejects his combat knife easily from his wrist into his hand and flips it thoughtfully in the air. "I carry enough heavy gear as it is, I can't very well load on a giant demon sword on top of it like SOME folks." He gives Blueshift another look. "So I need to plant this where it can do the most good." "The FACE of course!" Blueshift blurts out before Harrow can. "What sort of question is that!" Harrow glares at Blueshift. Backfire FINALLY breaks free from Harrow's hold through his own strength ... or she just let him go. "I have been informed it was ... and it's no doubt helped -us- in our raiding recently, has it not?" the Seeker simpleton questions, striking a daring and uber cool move out of Captain Ginyu's playbook. "Hey wait a sec, what's the knife FOR?!?!" Polarity is so tempted to facepalm at both Blueshift and Backfire. "Duh. You stick it in people you don't like." He makes a stabbing motion a few times, and then starts to giggle. "Not as messy as blowing things up, but it does have a nice 'RAWR PSYCHO KILLER FEAR ME!' vibe to it." Boomslang gestures at each person in turn with the knife. "But the complication there is, we don't all turn into the same thing and our guts are all stowed in different places, so I can't just memorize it... I have to figure it out, deduce where the vitals are." Responding to Blueshift's argument without actually talking to him directly, he adds, "Most of us don't even HAVE heads when we transform, let alone faces, and some folks like the Space Commander there don't always seem to much miss the loss of a whole head, let alone a face." Blueshift folds his arms. "Well BOOBslang, you did not actually state you were going to stab a vehicle. You don't stab vehicles, you use lasers or ranged weaponry, even a Sky Lynx knows that! Knives are for robots and faces" Boomslang finally gets around to deploying his minimal rank. "So that means you two," he says, grinning at Polarity and Backfire, "get to help Harrow here teach me how to find the vitals in opponents with diverse transformations." "And here they said you were always thinking outside the box," Boomslang sneers at Blueshift. Harrow smiles, drumming her lips with thoughtful finger tips. "STOP GIGGLING!" she shrieks at Polarity, rather abruptly. "Oh, thanks for volunteering! Go stand over there so we can stab you, both of you. You too, Blueshift." Blueshift waves his VAMPIRE SWORD at Harrow. "No, I shall test my VAMPIRE SWORD on them HARROW. Your rank has given you CRAZY DREAMS OF EMPIRE. It will not last, I will crush your dreams before too long!" He then turns to Boomslang. "I am so far outside the box, I am inside the box again" Harrow facepalms. "Sir," she turns to Boomslang, "It seems we won't get anywhere if Blueshift's here." Boomslang thinks back to his topology class in the academy, but he failed that class. For all he knows Blueshift is right. "What box are you guys yelling about, I don't see one here at all!" Backfire yelps. "THAT BOX!" shouts Blueshift, pointing at an innoculous cardboard box, sitting in the corner of the room. "THE THINKING BOX!" Polarity raises a brow behind his visor at Blueshift's babbling, and mutters under his breath, "And people call -me- a lunatic." He shrugs a bit, and smirks after a moment. "Same it isn't an invisible box. Then he'd be a mime and be -quiet-." Boomslang leans in towards Harrow and points out quietly, "Neither of us actually outrank Blueshift." For that matter, Boomslang only outranks Harrow in the sense that he was assigned to mentor her- she's actually higher in Engineering than he is in Aerospace. Backfire walks over to the cardboard box. "What's it for?" Polarity gives Boomslang a 'please stab the other two idiots first' sort of look. Blueshift folds his arms. "You get in it when you want to think. Climb in the box Backfire, it will help your mind" Harrow vents a sigh and tries to press on, "As you're well aware, there's vastly varying physiques - it's hard to pin down the subtle pressure points on some mechs. However, there is a basic set of standards you can refer to when going for the vitals... and you can learn while you fight." Boomslang flips his knife around in his hand absentmindedly while listening intently and trying to block out the stuff about the Thinking Box. He considers to himself whether the Thinking Box might be more effective if it was soundproof. Backfire picks the box up instead, attempting to fit it over his head. "Oh, this reminds me of the historically accurate documentary I saw on one of this planet's most dangerous soldiers!" he cries out, squatting down and shuffling through the room. "He had a pretty dumb name though, I mean ... who calls themself 'Solid Snake' and expects to be taken seriously?" So says the Seeker walking around in a cardboard box who calls himself Backfire. :) Harrow tries hard to ignore Backfire's cardboardery. "Flying mechs, like Seekers, I am sad to say, have a rather obvious set of points on them, unless they've taken measures to shield their substructure. I'm sure Backfire hasn't. Just /look/ at him. And stab him." Polarity just STARES at Backfire for a moment, and this time does facepalm.... then after a moment starts smirking again. Lowers his voice into a mock whisper, "he's got a box on his head, go stab him while he can't see you." Boomslang runs his gunmetal tongue along his teeth thoughtfully. "Ehhh, right. I'm going to assume that he'll have some kind of linkage or fuel line in his armpit to feed his arm guns." He lunges at Backfire to try to stab him in that spot while he's got a box on his head. Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Boomslang misses Backfire with his Pit Stop (Punch) attack! Combat: Gained 1 energon. Harrow takes a moment to try and stifle a laugh. Polarity meanwhile starts snickering a bit at Harrow's comment about taking measures to shield their structure. Folds his hands behind his back and looks like he's not doing anything else. When really he's adjusting his personal magnetic field just enough to repel the knife blade when he's the one about to get stabbed, keeping it low around his body so it shouldn't be noticed. Combat: Polarity creates a forcefield shielding himself from damage. Backfire continues squat-walking through the room, shuffling around. Dropping his datapad, the Seeker simpleton cranes his neck down to ascertain it's location and pick it up. It's at this precise moment that Boomslang stabs the box quickly. "Hey, thanks to whomever made me a hole to look out of!" he enthusiastically declares, still shuffling around like a moron. "This is actually even harder while he's in a box," complains Boomslang. "BACKFIRE!" Harrow yells, ripping the box away. "Stay still and be a good dummy!" She glares, then composes herself and moves on. "The goal here is to immobilize and cripple rather than destroy. A well-placed strike, especially with a blade, can obliterate an opponent's very strength for the rest of the match. A small sever of a wire will destroy their targetting systems. You must adapt and guess where these weak points are. Be observant, watch and make conclusions. How swiftly can they move their joints if they're of larger stature? Do they favor a certain side of their body while engaged in melee? ...Are they projecting a forcefield?" She eyes Polarity. Polarity just griiiiiiiiiins back at the femme-seeker when she peers at him, and holds a finger up to his mouth in a shhhhing gesture. Nice example, but don't tell him until after he tries. "If you get a really long pin!" Blueshift states out of nowhere "and get your opponent to hold their arms out to the sides, and put the pin in one finger and all the way out another finger, then they will be unable to move their arms!" He nods in a 'wise' motion Boomslang advances on Backfire again, hoping for more luck now that he can see him without the box in the way. "Would you say the joints are usually a good choice? There aren't going to be any vital components there, but they'd be easier to pierce, and there'd be control and fuel lines, right? Have you ever encountered an enemy with independently powered limbs?" Combat: Boomslang misses Backfire with his Experimental Stabbing (Punch) attack! Combat: Gained 1 energon. Boomslang has had good experiences with going for the neck, but for obvious reasons that's easier said than done. "Once!" Blueshift snaps his fingers. "XARDOX III from the planet CRUSHON. Each of his limbs were powered by a NUCLEAR REACTOR and were capable of independant thought!" Backfire sighs. "Fine, but you owe me one!" he complains, standing still as so nicely requested of him. "Hey, a shiny pennie!" the Seeker exclaims, bending over to admire it. Boomslang's knife goes sailing over his head. "Oh drat, is it heads or tails side up for good luck ... anyone?" Polarity cackles as Boomslang misses again just because Backfire ducked. "Which side was facing up, it seems to be pretty lucky already, hahahaha!" Yep, he was right, this really is amusing. "Uhh, the bearded fleshie face side ... so heads." Backfire reports. Harrow rolls her optics at Polarity, then slooooowly turns a blank stare on Blueshift. "These are my wingmates," she mumbles dejectedly, more to herself, shoulders slumping. Blueshift fixes his glare on Harrow. "Did you say... /WINGSIBS/?" he accuses Harrow sputters, "No! Shut up! Go stand in the corner!" Boomslang grimaces in embarrassment as Backfire practically bumbles out of the way. Boomslang steps past, reverses his grip and thrusts backwards, trying to nail him through the waist joint from behind. Combat: Boomslang strikes Backfire with his Abhorrent Wingsib Denial (Punch) attack! Combat: Gained 1 energon. "Joints are always a good choice," Harrow nods approvingly. "Very few mechs have independently powered limbs, but if they do, it's for this very reason." Combat: Polarity sets his defense level to Neutral. Backfire is struck ... FINALLY! "Owowowowowowow!" he whines, falling forward as his internal systems deal with the overload from the attack to his midsection. From the ground, he peers at Boomslang and Harrow. "Seriously, who stabs people in the waist???" "I think he was aiming for your aft," Polarity remarks, trying not start laughing -too- hard because of the dirty looks Harrow is giving him. And sort of succeeding at it, he's still snickering. Boomslang snaps oil off the end of the knife with a flick of the wrist. "That's the whole point! If I stabbed you in the chest with a blade only two feet long you'd barely feel it." Boomslang pauses to watch Backfire. "Do you feel... weakened at all? I have no idea if I hit anything important." "Only huge FEMMES stab the waist! Blueshift cries. "This is what you need to do Boomslang, you need to hit his vital spots with great care!" With that, Blueshift takes out his huge black VAMPIRE SWORD and tries to stab Backfire in the face with it Combat: Blueshift strikes Backfire with his Vorpal Saber attack! Harrow tries to tune out Polarity's incessent giggling. She watches Backfire get stabbed again, with grim satisfaction. "Only a slight case of indiges..SHUN!" Backfire replies, his sentence cut off by the frickin' huge VAMPIRE SWORD to his face! Boomslang raises a brow at Blueshift going for the face with a giant demon sword forged in the crucible of hell or whatever. "That's why they keep him around even though he's an imbecile," he quietly asides to Harrow, wiping his knife between his fingers. Harrow leaves Backfire on the floor to bleed, and continues, "We are made up of a network of nerves and wires that fire off signals to our processors. If something stops these signals, we can lose control of our actions. Gripping a wrist and squeezing it to the point of crushing will disrupt the flow of electricity, and force the hand to release its grip on something. Horizontal slashes just above thigh armor will more than not hit one of the major nerve clusters, and cause knees to buckle. Try Magnaboy now." "You see!" Blueshift instructs, pointing to the huge sword in Backfire's face. "How I carefully struck at his vital systems. "DOES-IT-HURT?" he asks Backfire slowly "Will you make it stop if I say yes?" Backfire questions, obviously not unnaccostomed to being stabbed in the face. "Yes!" Blueshift lies Boomslang gives Backfire and Blueshift's probably-accursed hellblade a wide berth as he goes over to eye Polarity. "Come at me, you." He doesn't know Polarity's name yet. "I want to try this on an aggressor." Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Guarded. Backfire shakes his head vigorously, or what's left of it. "Yes sir, it hurts tremendously!" Boomslang ducks the sword handle swinging back and forth wildly when Backfire shakes his head, and holds his knife before him in a warding stance. Blueshift takes his sword back and stares at Backfire. "Excellent." He says. "Harrow, watch this lesson!" The lesson seems to be Blueshift trying to stab Backfire in the face again Combat: Blueshift misses Backfire with his Vorpal Saber attack! Harrow drags her hand over her face. Backfire quickly picks himself up off the ground and dashes behind Harrow. "Now, this crazy hitting me with his Sweep Sword was -not- part of the deal!" Polarity smirks. "Yes sir!" Though it's more out of knowing Boomslang is going to be in for a bit of a surprise than he is being respectful. Either way, seeing as -Commando- is his function, he has little trouble charging at Boomslang and swinging one of his magnetically charged fists at the other Seeker's face, knowing his safe in the rest of his body being magnetically charged to repel metal blades at the moment too. Combat: Polarity sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Polarity strikes Boomslang with his Magnetic Punch (Punch) attack! Combat: Polarity (Polarity) used "Punch": A Level 1 MELEE attack. Combat: You took 3 damage. Harrow says, "Blueshift, we're all very aware of how large and daunting your sword is. Are you through?"" Blueshift swings his sword about a bit. "MAYBE, Harrow. MAYBE!" Boomslang should've read Polarity's dossier. He's actually surprised to catch a fist to the cone; in his experience most seekers avoid hand to hand combat. But taking advantage of the outstretched arm, Boomslang brings his other hand around to try to slash Polarity's elbow while it's extended! Combat: Boomslang misses Polarity with his Defensive Slash (Kick) attack! Combat: Drained 2 energon. Harrow shan't mock him this time. "Keep at it, Boomslang. Applying pressure on fuel lines works well too, if you can reach them. When pinched or slowed, signals tell the processor that fuel pressure is too high, and will reflexively lower it, quickly enough to stun the opponent." It's hard to tell if its because it's pushed away from the magnetic field, or because Polarity pulls his arm out of the way again, cackling a bit. Although his magnetic powers are certainly stronger, he has no trouble with getting physical with a foe when he feels like it. "Com'n, you gotta do better than that!" He hops back and twists to throw a roundhouse kick at Boomslang maybe a little too happily to ablidge. Combat: Polarity misses Boomslang with his Spinkick (Kick) attack! Combat: Polarity (Polarity) used "Kick": A Level 2 MELEE attack. Combat: Harrow runs a diagnostic check on Backfire "Uh oh, he's asking for trouble now ... goading Boomslang like that!" Backfire exclaims to Harrow. Harrow nods knowingly, grinning. Boomslang grimaces angrily, catches the leg in both arms before it can take him off his feet, and throws his weight against it, trying to slam Polarity to the ground where Boomslang can get at him with his knife. Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Boomslang strikes Polarity with his Leg Throw (Smash) attack! Combat: Polarity's forcefield absorbs Boomslang's attack. Combat: Drained 5 energon. Backfire nods, merely mimicing Harrow's reaction. "So, now for payment of services rendered here today!" he yelps enthusiastically, pulling out a mess of papers. "I'm going to have to have you look over these designs I've been drawing up, they are certain ... upgrades I've deemed neccesary for my importance in the EMPIRE!" he jests, handing over the TF-sized napkins with what looks like crayon scribblings on them. Wham! Polarity gets tossed to the ground with a thud, though he doesn't take any actual damage from the impact. The floor indenting a bit from his magnetic forcefield hitting it might be noticable though, if one takes the time to notice. "That's more like it! Now go for the blood.. err.. oil spill! Ahaha!" He puts up a mock fight of trying to keep Boomslang's wielding arm at a distance, but it's mainly for show. We never said Polarity was -sane-, after all. Combat: Polarity misses Boomslang with his DRAMATIC SCUFFLE (Grab) attack! Combat: Polarity (Polarity) used "Grab": A Level 0 MELEE attack. Harrow frowns at the oversized napkins. "Backfire... you know... we have styluses and datapads. And I don't think it would be /safe/ for the empire if you upgraded anything." She looks up at a scuffle she's sure will drag on for hours if she doesn't intervene. "He's shielding himself. There's not much you can do in the way of hitting vitals." "Shall I illustrate for Boomslang how you handle forcefields then?" Backfire asks Harrow, looking all ... giddy. Boomslang manages to get his arm inside Polarity's reach and stabs repeatedly at him with a hacking overhand motion, although the slippery glimmer of the forcefield is clearly preventing anything from happening as a result. Boomslang rolls off of Polarity and crouches beside him, frowning as he stands up. "Yes, of course, you're right. I would have to use my munitions to break down the field first. Foolish of me." Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Neutral. "If you think you can actually do something against him," Harrow answers Backfire, "Then sure, why not." Polarity waggles a finger playfully at Boomer. "Remember what she said about some people taking precausion to shield themselves." Then rolls over the other way and gets up. Which ufortunately puts his back to Harrow and Backfire. "But you're not gonna let that stop you, are you now? Hmmm?" Backfire charges forth with a delirious smile on his face. "You'll rue the day you ... uhh, made fun of Boomslang!" he stutters, transforming into jet-mode and launching a barrage of concussive rockets at Polarity. A shake, shudder, and shiver; and before your eyes BACKFIRE transforms into a F-16 Falcon! Combat: F-16 Falcon sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: F-16 Falcon strikes Polarity with his Concussive MISSiles attack! Combat: Polarity's forcefield absorbs F-16 Falcon 's attack. "Nice trick," Boomslang allows, not sounding like he holds a grudge against other people having weird powers... as long as they're on his side. His momentary murderous stabbing has passed in a flicker, leaving that practiced blandness on his face. "No, I suppose not." He throws out his left arm and a minigun ejects from the forearm with a CHAK, firing a loud buzzing barrage of little shells. Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Boomslang strikes Polarity with his Integral Autocannon attack! Combat: Polarity's forcefield absorbs Boomslang's attack. Combat: Drained 5 energon. Harrow awws, and was getting some amusement from seeing deadpan Boomslang becoming miffed. "Hit him again!" she cheers for Polarity now. Polarity cackles merrily as Backfire bombards him with explosives, briefly ingulfed in the smokey blast. And then get rattled away at by a minigun to boot, little flashes were it hits the field visible as the smoke starts to clear. "Yes, yes, that's much more like it! Much more.. uh." He stops in mid cackling as the extended field flickers out from the two assaults, automatically shutting down to keep from completely draining his energy reserves. "Whu oh... oh well! Com'm, you were more entertaining when you were stab happy!" He fires a small magnetic pulse back at Boomslang to coax him into trying again. Combat: Polarity's forcefield protecting himself vanishes. Combat: Polarity strikes Boomslang with his Magnetic Pulse attack! -2 Combat: Polarity (Polarity) used "Magnetic Pulse": A Level 2 RANGED attack. Combat: You took 6 damage. Combat: Polarity's attack has strange and mysterious effects on Boomslang. Combat: Polarity's attack damages your armor. "Unf!" Boomslang grunts, lifting off the ground and cracked hard into the wall by Polarity's magnetic "push!" He looks a bit dented by the compression, although of course this must only be illusory because of the arena. Kicking off the wall, he launches while transforming, soaring into the suddenly expanding, pale-green simulated sky and winging over as quickly as he can to close in on Polarity with bombs at the ready. "You wouldn't like me when I'm happy!" shouts the fighter jet as it roars past overhead in the simulated space, laying eggs as it goes. With the usual ratcheting sound, Boomslang spins and flips and turns into a fighter jet. Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet strikes Polarity with his Mk.82 GP Bomb attack! Combat: Used up 1 Bombs. 3 remain. F-16 Falcon transforms back into robot mode and lands on the ground with a *THUD*. "So Harrow, where were we? Oh yes, my upgrades." The F-16 Falcon transforms with that ever-familiar sound to reveal... BACKFIRE! Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Protected. Harrow stares at Backfire, grating her dentals, "Can you even /afford/ upgrades?" Boom! More bombs, and this time without his field up to protect him, resulting in Polarity getting tossed across the arena and thudding against one of the walls. "Oh, so you wanna play like that now do ya? Dandy!" He leaps into the air and transforms himself, blasting towards Boomsland almost as if he was going to pull a Ramjet. Only to flip to the side at the last moment and speed by, leaving the magnetic waves in his way to do the dirty work of knocking about his opponent. With the familiar click-clacking sound the Seeker becomes a F-15E Strike Eagle jet! Combat: F-15E Strike Eagle strikes F/A-18 Super Hornet with his Magnetic Field attack! Combat: F-15E Strike Eagle (Polarity) used "Magnetic Field": A Level 3 VELOCITY attack. Combat: You took 15 damage. Harrow decides to scoot away towards the outer walls should any errant missile or bomb come her way. "Well I hope you learned something!" she shouts up at Boomslang. F/A-18 Super Hornet tumbles wildly out of control as he gets tossed and twisted by the powerful magnetic field streaking past at high speed! Quick to recover, he blasts after Polarity, trying to stay further away this time while launching air-to-air missiles from his wingtips. "Uhhhhm, do you take IOUs?" Backfire questions, looking dumbfounded. Fulcrum :O Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet misses F-15E Strike Eagle with his AIM-9X Sidewinder attack! Combat: Used up 1 Missiles. 1 remain. "What?" Boomslang yells back, distracted. "Oh, yes! Right, I think I learned quite a lot actually!" He sometimes has the typical Seeker tendency to chase anything dangerous and forget about the mission. F-15E Strike Eagle pulls up as the missiles are closing in on him, leaving them to streak by into the wall. At the peak of his upward motion Polarity flips back out of jet mode and tries to land a kick on top of the other jet, nevermind how crazy it is to try and get in melee attacks on a super fast vehicle! The Strike Eagle jet rearranges into the magnetic Seeker Polarity! "Good!" Harrow shouts back, then looks to Backfire. "I'll take a look at your... designs, for your troubles at least," she mumbles, sifting through the napkins as she takes her leave. Combat: Polarity misses F/A-18 Super Hornet with his Crazy enough to try and dropkick a jet! (Kick) attack! Combat: Polarity (Polarity) used "Kick": A Level 2 MELEE attack. F/A-18 Super Hornet swoops past Polarity, pulls around, transforms and drops towards him, trying to powerdive him into the ground! The F-18 produces that distinctive transformation sound as it flips around and pops out limbs to assume a humanoid shape. Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Boomslang strikes Polarity with his Power Drop (Smash) attack! Combat: You took 3 damage from that attack. Combat: Drained 5 energon. Your nomination for Backfire has been registered! And it's a crazy move he pays for, as Polarity gets whammed hard into the ground by the other Seeker. Oof! "That's when you should try the knife! They won't be expecting -that- out of a dive!" .... he might have a point there." He also tries to fire off a weak energy pulse to knock Boomslang off of him again. Combat: Polarity misses Boomslang with his Disruptor attack! Combat: Polarity (Polarity) used "Disruptor": A Level 1 RANGED attack. Backfire grumbles to himself, obviously not everyone is as big a fan of himself as he is. He mosies towards the exit, trying to remaim somewhat enthusiastic for a routine patrol. Boomslang yanks his cone to the side in time to avoid the point-blank shot, and thrusts with the knife, low for the belly. "I take your point... now, maybe you'll take mine!" Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Boomslang strikes Polarity with his Knife Pun (Kick) attack! Combat: Drained 2 energon. Boomslang makes a mental note to remember that one for use on the Autobots in a real fight. Polarity GRKS as he gets stabbed in the midsection. That did kind of sting, yes. Though he starts cackling a bit afterwards as his advice was taken. "That's some -sharp- wit you've got there.. by the way, name's Polarity." Introducing yourself while in middle of a fight isn't really a new thing, and it comes out rather casually. Even as he tries to grab Boomslang and just throw him off without the fancy tricks this time. Combat: Polarity strikes Boomslang with his Throwing in some conversation (Grab) attack! Combat: Polarity (Polarity) used "Grab": A Level 0 MELEE attack. Combat: You took 0 damage. "Because of the electromagnets, right?" asks Boomslang, rolling with the throw to recover his feet quickly. "Boomslang. Because they say I'm a serpent." With a flicker of pseudomotion he abruptly vanishes, from the extremities in, leaving just the eyes and grin hanging there in midair for half a second before they also disappear. "And it's hard to see me coming before I sink my teeth in you," says Boomslang's disembodied voice from somewhere nearby, moving around Polarity with quiet steps. Combat: Drained 10 energon. Combat: Boomslang activates his cloaking field and vanishes from sight! Combat: Automatically setting your defense level to 'Hidden' "That would be right... Ehehehe. It has one of the best words in that name, can't complain!" The boom, that is. Polarity raises his arm-rifles, but then pauses a moment at the disappearing act. "Now THAT is a sweet trick... Scrap, field generator is still low." Normally he'd put that up when opponents start disappearing, but at the moment he has to settle on just taking a defensive stance and waiting... Combat: Polarity sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Polarity takes extra time to steady himself. Pass "Glad to hear it," says Boomslang's voice from right behind Polarity, before a quiet *click* of a hammer being thumbed back. Combat: Suddenly, Boomslang appears out of thin air! Combat: Sneak Attack!! Combat: Boomslang strikes Polarity with his 75mm HVAP Revolver attack! -1 Combat: You are running low on energon! Combat: Drained 2 energon. Combat: Your defense level has been reset to Neutral. Polarity wheels around at the ominous click, but all it succeeds in doing is getting him shot in the chest instead of the back, and its still enough to knock magnet-boy on his ass with a smoking wound in his chest. That hurt, even in simulation. "Boy I'd hate to be the Autobot on the receving end of that trick." He reachs up with an arm and warps a smaller magnetic field to try and knock Boomer away again. "I just stick to being... repulsive!" Combat: Polarity misses Boomslang with his Magnetic Pulse attack! -2 Combat: Polarity (Polarity) used "Magnetic Pulse": A Level 2 RANGED attack. Boomslang fires his afterburners as he sees Polarity turning his hands towards him, rocketing up into the air just in time for the magnetic wave to crush a dent into the wall of the simu-chamber instead. Boomslang lands on the far side in a half-crouch, holding up a hand (the one with the knife in it). "Okay, okay. I think we've both proven we're hardcases. I'm going to be late for a patrol already. You're all right, Polarity. Tell you what, I'll show you how that one works on the Bots if you show me how that ripping fly-by works on them. Deal?" Polarity laughs a bit as he gets to his feet. "Sounds like a plan. Everything that makes the Bots better at blowing up, right?" Pauses for a moment, mmmming. "I don't mind flying with a guy that's good at making them do just that, we'll have remind 'em why Seekers are still a thing to be feared sometime!" Okay, don't keep the guy from doing his patrols.